New Link Up Fun!

Hey all!! Damn I wish I was cool enough to say "Hey ya'll!"
I'm not... so anyway. While I'm patiently awaiting my Dunkins delivery (Thanks Mom!) I wanted to join in on my boo's Aubrey Leigh's new link up.

I obviously have a soft spot for my sisters who share my love of two first names (she calls is double name, but whatever same thing).
Since this is the first Friday I don't really have a ton to report back. Sunday was my half so I'm still in "recovery stage" and by recovery stage I mean my new friend (soon to be ex friend) is kicking my ass.
I was so ready to get back into the gym and lifting all the heavy things, and then I was informed that my gym closed.
Then it didn't close
Then it was a hazard to go into.
I don't even frickin know anymore
What I do know is the owners don't maintain it and the roof leaks so the floors are flooded and it smells like mildew. No thanks.
I was bitching about this to my friend Sarah. 
She's a personal trainer and she was all "I would love to help you get to it before your photo shoot"
Little did I know she was going to be like "NOW DROP DOWN AND GIVE ME ONE MILLION"

Not exactly but pretty damn close.
She knows my next half is in about 9ish weeks and she might even run it with me so she's integrating that into my weekly plan. Hopefully I can shave some time off.

This was my workout today.
5 rounds
10 weighted step-ups
5 Renegade Rows (5 each side)
10 Chair dips

It seems so innocent and nice. Then by the end I wanted to cry.
It feels good to get that feeling in such a little time. It will be nice to try this out.
Also let it be known, that my upcoming photo shoot is NOT A FITNESS photo shoot.
It's a present for the hubs, I'm just trying to make sure I feel good about it!!

Now go forth and enjoy the sunshine, a good friend reminded me this week that it's important to remember that
THESE ARE THE GOOD OLD DAYS.
Enjoy them while they are here.

I'm Feeling Pintresting

My life is full to the brim with stress right now. Like overflowing.
I workout and run to save my sanity, but the other thing I like to do is unleash my inner Martha and get my craft on.

Pintrest is seriously addicting and I could spend hours of my life just scrolling and scrolling and scrolling.
This summer I am determined to actually follow through with some of my fav Pins.

Hopscotch stepping Stones

We have been working on our yard and garden for the past two summers and it's really coming together. I would love to do something like this for the kids! I think they would love it. 

Flavored butter

Well I lover butter... so duh. I also like gifting so I guess I could make some and give them away... maybe. 

String Art

A friend of mine recently did one of these on her own and she somehow made it look easy. I'm tempted to take a shot at this to surprise my hubs, but it will probably turn into a Pin-fail.

Growth Charts

I love the idea of these, especially with the kids names on them. These seem pretty easy so I think I can handle it. If not my hubs is pretty good at taking over and fixing my mistakes.

Mailbox Makeover

While my husband would never allow this exact mailbox. I love it. Since ours got knocked out by the plow this year we need something new... and fancy. 

Coconut Lime anything really...

The name says it all. Doesn't have to be doughnuts.... just coconut lime and I'm sold.


Check back later this year to see if I fail at all of these!! You can also check out my Pintrest boards to check out the other wild ideas I have! 

What Do I Do Now?

Have you ever got so lost in a book when you finish you miss the characters (I can never spell this word), and wonder what they are up to now?
That's kind of how I feel about my training. It hasn't even been a week and I'm thinking about what I'm going to do with all my free time on Fridays.

As I mentioned a few days ago I put out some invisible vibes that led people to believe that I actually like to run and that I want to do more of it, which led to me agreeing to do another half marathon in August ON TOP of the half that I am already raising money for in October.
Go donate here!
This morning I was bored so I decided to look up more details of this small half I reluctantly decided to do in August.
Then I thought to myself... How far away is August
Oh that's right I only have 9 frickin weeks.

What the crap. Why am I so bad at math!!
Guess I don't have as much free time on Fridays as I thought.
You know what this race does have.... cowbells.
That's right spectators get cowbells and are asked to sit on "hard" parts of the race to support runners. Amazing.

There are some things I want to do a little differently this time around.
Like actually do my short runs.... thank you Lauren.
I would like to increase my pace so that the town of Jaffrey isn't waiting for me to cross the finish line, and remembering to wear sunscreen.

I have a little something special planned for the hubs on July 11th so I wanted to make sure I was in super good shape. I had planned on getting back in the gym and going hard until I heard that my gym closed, because it sucks and they finally got the memo.
AHHHH

So now I will be returning to home workouts like Body Pump, Jillian's 30 day shred, and some target workouts I put together myself. Lawd help me.

I tend to lose motivation when I workout at home so I am super thankful my boo Aubrey Leigh put together a new accountability link up on Fridays. Hopefully I can plan my workouts out for the week on Mondays and then check in on them on Fridays. We'll see. I like to say I'm going to do something and they throw you all off and do something else.

In other news. I have decided to celebrate my first half with a giveaway of all my running essentials. Keep an eye out. I will be announcing more details soon!

13 Point Frickin 1

Okay I think I've had enough time to mentally comprehend that I did it.
I actually frickin did it.
I ran that whole damn race. I didn't walk for one second. Not when I watched someone run face first into a sign, not through any of the water stations, not through all of my ugly cries, not at all.

My official time was 2:52:49 and yes that is pretty slow for not walking, but I didn't get picked up by the sweeper and that's all I cared about.

This race is seriously amazing, and I recommend it for anyone wanting to do a half, or even just 5 miles. You get to run through historical Boston and you have the support of the Boston Police Department behind you. The whole race is emotional.

I cried before I even started running. In fact I cried on my way to the race. The first ten miles were great. I was just taking in the sights and enjoying the run. The last three miles were rough. I won't lie. I was in pain, I was tired, I was emotionally tired. I wanted to be done. I was running past people drinking their Starbucks and eating their muffins and I wanted to be doing normal Sunday morning things, not running.

Then I turned the corner and saw the finish line. I cried. The emotions I felt were insane. I kept going and ran over the finish line and broke into full on ugly cry. Like snot dripping, heaving, ugly cry. So bad that the EMTs swarmed me and started taking my vitals. I had to scream out "I'm just emotinal" before they would let me go any further.

I got back to our meeting place and just collapsed on the floor. I called my husband and he put my daughter on the phone. She said

"Did you win mommy?"
"Hell yeah I won, baby, but don't say hell"

I may have been slow but in my mind I did win. I won over myself. The million times I told myself you can't do this. The million times I didn't start a run because I didn't think I would finish. The times I beat myself up over a bad run, or a hill that got the best of me.

I won.

My cousin Kassie seriously went above and beyond in terms of support on Sunday. I think I gave her the bug too because she texted me this morning saying she was looking into a half this fall!!

After my race she told me to check out Instagram and Facebook

The amount of love and support I got seriously floored me. I couldn't believe it. I still can't. You guys are amazing. Gah I'm crying again just thinking about it.

Then I woke up this morning and googled "How to increase your Half Marathon pace"

Seriously someone stop me.

My Date with Dexter

I don't have a great post for you today because I'm in clinicals alllll day. 

I'm also slightly freaking out about Sunday. Eeek 

Make sure you follow me on Instagram @camonlipstick so you can get all the inside scoop on my race before I post the recap and cheer me on!! 

Hope you all have a long weekend!! 

Last Call

Today is the last day to get in on this order of Camo and Lipstick shirts!!

It's simple to order just send the money to candrabergeron@gmail.com via paypal with your color choice, size, and mailing address. Especially if you want to buy the shirt for someone else and want it shipped to them. 

Solid color shirts are $25 a piece

They come in black, white, and heather grey

Camo shirts are $35 a piece

Also you can choose between Women's fit and Unisex fit. If you do not specify you will get women's fit! 

All proceeds from these shirt sales go to benefit CHaD, Children's Hospital at Dartmouth! 

Just because I love these shirts and I love you. If you purchase one today, leave a comment below and I will pick a random winner for a $20 gift card to either Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks or Target. Your choice!! 

My Current Running Playlist

As the big race gets closer I am hashing out some last minute details.

Like whether or not I should braid my hair. 

You know the important things. 

More important than the braids....which is pretty damn important, is my playlist. 

In no particular order here is my current playlist. It runs for about 2 hours. 

You Can't Stop Me- Andy Mineo

We Ready- Archie Eversole

Stupid Hoe- Nicki Minaj

The Monster- Eminem Ft. Rhianna

The Show Goes On- Lupe Fiasco

Treasure- Bruno Mars

Happy- Pharrell Williams

Work It- Missy Elliot

Get Ur Freak On- Missy Elliot

Unconditionally- Katy Perry

Sweet Nothings- Calvin Harris Ft. Florence Welch

Dark Horse- Katy Perry

Next to Me- Emeli Sande

Gorilla- Bruno Mars

Whip It- Nicki Minaj

County Girl- Luke Bryan

Girl on Fire- Alicia Keys

Bandz Make Her Dance- Lil Wayne, Juicy J, and 2 Chainz

Dance (A$$)- Big Sean

Pound the Alarm- Nicki Minaj

You Can Do it- Ice Cube

Run the World- Beyonce

Work- Iggy Azalea

Put it on Me- Ja Rule

Slow Motion- Juvenile

Touch the Sky- Kanye West

Ms. New Booty- Bubba Sparx

I can- Nas

Mercy- Nicki Minaj and Iggy Azalea

We Own It- Wiz Khalifa

Since I'm real slow, I need more to get me through my half... suggestions???

You're Clearly the Asshole.

A friend of mine posted something on her facebook that immediatly caught my eye the other day. 

The No-Bullshit, No-Drama Friendship Manifesto. 

It's actually a blog post from Janelle over at Renegade Mothering, which is quite possibly my new favorite blog. She tells motherhood like it is. It would be impossible for me to paraphrase this manifesto and do it any good so here it is. You can read the whole post here. 

1. I will not get on your case for not texting me back in a timely manner.
2. I will not get on your case for not calling me back in a timely manner.
3. This is because I will soon be the one not calling and texting you back in a timely manner.
4. If you tell me you’re going to call me back “in a few minutes” I understand I may not hear from you for 3 days.
5. I know this is not because you don’t love me.
6. If I need you for real, I will harangue and harass you until you acknowledge me. This process includes, but is not limited to: calling, texting and emailing (repeatedly), instant messaging, tweeting, tagging on Instagram, showing up on doorsteps, actually leaving voicemails (!) and/or contacting spouses.
7. This will not annoy you because you know you’re a fucking flake.
8. This will not annoy me because I know I’m a fucking flake.
9. If you don’t RSVP to my kid’s birthday party for 3 weeks then call the morning of the event and say “Uh, yeah, um, sorry, but can we come?” I’m not going to express profound irritation through a suppressed sigh and deep pause, rather I’m gonna be like “Yeah that’s cool, but do you have any candles? I forgot the effing candles.”
10. And I’m going to be happy you came, because we’re friends.
11. When my kids are acting like shitheads and you’re like “Hey child, No.” I won’t get all righteously indignant. Instead I’ll look at you in gratefulness for dealing with the little bastards so I don’t have to.
12. When you get pissed at your husband, I will agree he is the most sorry d-bag to ever walk the planet and we shall plan for the day when we live on an all-female commune with organic produce, llamas and wool spinning-wheels. And redwood trees. And the ocean.
13. Even if you’re clearly the asshole.
14. When you swear in front of my kids I won’t care. Because obviously.
15. The dinners you make uniformly blow my mind.
16. Whoever has the youngest (or worst behaving child) at the moment gets to make decisions. We all understand that children are often foul, insane little creatures and it needn’t even be mentioned that we DON’T BLAME YOU.
17. Maybe your house is clean. Maybe it isn’t. Maybe who gives a rat’s ass?
18. When I say something stupid that could be conveyed as insulting or whatever, you’re not going to get all overly sensitive and weird, calling mutual friends and psycho-analyzing what, exactly, my problem is (probably going back to childhood), rather you’re going to call me out on it and then I’m going to apologize and we’re going to move on, LIKE ADULTS, because occasionally adults say stupid shit, the end.
19. When you say something stupid, I’ll either do number 18 or, and I know this is revolutionary, I’LL LET IT GO.
20. We tell each other the truth (except the asshole part when fighting with domestic life partners).
21. When my jeans are sagging, you’re going to lovingly take me shopping. Or you’re going to not notice. These are the only two options.
22. The only time I’m going to one-up you is to prove I’ve screwed up worse than the time you’re currently feeling terribly about.
23. I will not give helpful parenting advice. You will not give helpful parenting advice. WE ALL HATE THE MOM WITH HELPFUL PARENTING ADVICE.
24. I understand that “on time” means “not as late as I usually am.”
25. When our conversation gets interrupted nineteen hundred and forty seven times by one kid or another and that thing I was going to say that was so funny and interesting is forgotten entirely, I won’t get hurt feelings.
26. When I borrow a baby item, don’t return it, then, 2 years later, when you ask for it back and I’m like “Yeah I don’t think we have that anymore,” you’re like “oh okay” but then, 4 months later, when I find it in a bin in my garage, you’re like “It’s cool.”
27. Because we’re both fucking flakes, except when it matters.

Seriously can I get an AMEN. We all have those friends.. Hell you may even BE that friend, but I'm sure we can all agree lets leave the drama behind, because while we are running around the house trying to remember the last time you gave your kid cheerios and whether or not that one they just found under the couch is fair game, you don't need to worry about pleasing someone else. 

By the way I am a total flake. Get over it. 

Go check out Janelle at her blog at Renegade Mothering. 

Which of these rules is your favorite?? Any you would add?

The Week Of

It's officially the week of my first half marathon. I seriously wish I could celebrate and do something running related every day.

I mean I guess I could, but I have that whole thing called a family, and that other thing called dental clinicals. 

At least this weekend we are having a cookout with the two of my fav sister in laws. 

One of them used to be a co-worker, and then she became my landlord, then sister in law, but her sons are like my little brothers, so figure that one out. She even cheered me on at the this same race last year when I did the five mile course. 

You can and should read about it here, because I still have those exact same irrational fears. 

Except this year I can at least tell people... 

"I got fitted for these running shoes, I'm a runner I promise. Please don't kick me out of the race"

My cousin Kassie (who is actually the hubs cousin... I think.. honestly I'm not positive of the relation but I know she's family and if I call 911 I get her) is coming down to cheer me on this year and we are going to go to lunch in Boston after. 

You know how you know you are a true New Englander. When you get excited about the smell of Boston. There is seriously something about that city. It's in the air. The support, the spirit, the community, the life. I don't know what it is but it's amazing. If you ever get a chance to just walk around Boston I highly suggest it. Just take a seat somewhere and breath it in, because that city has a little magic in it. 

The fact that I just went on a rant about the smell of Boston solidifies my New Englander status. 

The iced Dunkins coffee next to the computer also completes it. My pre-workout of choice.

Anyway. This past weekend was amazing. The weather was good, the company was good, the food was good. It got me pretty excited for the race. 

I also found a lot of really great GIF's that totally capture the rollar coaster of emotions I have about the race. 

Peace out home slices!

I gave off vibes...

So the weirdest thing happened yesterday. 

I was talking to my friend Lauren about how as much as I've loved training for this half I'm excited to not HAVE to run a certain mileage on Fridays. Or stress about getting my long runs in and not have it interupt family time. 

I have my second half in October so I will have to keep up with running but I'll have a good break.

Then I get an email 

What is it with emails lately.

It just said 

"I saw you running and wanted to remind you to mark your calendar for the town half marathon in August."

I'm sure I've mentioned on here before but I am very involved in our town and I'm well on my way to becoming queen.

Someone hold my crown 

Being a predominant member of any town typically comes along with having to join in on things just because. 

Like this race. 

Oh well one more half won't kill me and they are spread out so it's fine.

Then I get a message on Facebook

" Just signed up for the Smuttynose half you should totally join".

Hold the phone. Did I accidentally give off runner vibes or something? Did I accidentally wear my compression pants into the grocery store? I'm not exactly sure what happened but for someone reason everyone seems to think I'm a gasp runner...

Since I can never fully say no and she said the magic word...beer. I told her I would check it out. 

That would be 4 halfs in one year! Please somebody tell me to slow my crazy so I have an excuse. 

Sad day for Donuts.

Yesterday morning got off to a rough start. I got a bad email so I started the whole day with a F it attitude. This lead to me stopping at Dunkins and ordering a donut to go with my coffee.

Then I got to work and it was just more of the same. 

A few girls from another local office stopped by with two dozen Krispy Kreme donuts. 

We work in an office of THREE PEOPLE. Three... there is three of us. for 24 donuts. 

I also work in the front end directly next to the break room where I placed said donuts and stared and smelled at them all day. Then I had 4. Not one, not two, but four. 

I was feeling really shitty about myself and didn't want to eat any more so I ran to the grocery store for some good snack options. Next thing I know I'm eating a Butterfinger in the car on the way back to work. 

Seriously What the Fuck is wrong with me. 

I get it we all have bad days, and the best thing to do is look forward and go from here. 

But Jebus how many time so I have to let a little slip up turn into a full day binge. 

I know what to do. I preach healthy eating all the time. WHY DO I STILL HAVE NO WILL POWERRRRR. 

Can I buy that shit somewhere because for real. 

I felt like crap after my eating frenzy because I don't really do gluten so that  nice overload made my stomach hate me. 

But more than anything I was so mad. 

I know better. 

I know what to do, and yet I find myself in this spot again and again. 

It's absolutely insane what a mind fuck dieting or transitioning or cleaning up your diet, whatever you want to call it is. 

I go to the grocery store with my meal plan in hand and I know which foods to buy and which foods to avoid and then I see huge signs that tell me about the 30 million new flavors of Oreos. I think the food industry has be bugged. I still at home dreaming of binging on a birthday cake or a rootbeer float, and the food industry is like, Let me make everything in those two flavors because we love Candra. 

I know what to do. I know I can do this. I think I can I think I can. 

One day at a time. One bite at a time. It's okay to indulge, it's not okay to overindulge. 

I have 8 weeks until my photo shoot with La. 

While this photo shoot is a present for the hubs.. shit I hope he isn't reading this...

I'm doing it for me. 

I know Lauren will work her magic and make the pictures look amazing, but only I can make sure that, that whole time I FEEL amazing. 

Only me. 

Only I can do this. 

I told Lauren this morning it's like I know how to tie my shoes, but I don't want to bother with bending down so I'll just risk walking around and possibly tripping all day. 

Thanks Ryan... sometimes I forget. 

Life is Weird.

Sometimes when I click that new post button I have no idea what I am going to write about.

My life is pretty much the same episode played over and over and over again with the occasional two part season finale. 

I am less than two weeks away from running my very first half marathon and I am not sure how I feel about it. The race is the day after my dads birthday and with every heavy foot that falls on my long runs all I can think about is him. 

I wish I could be more religious or spiritual and tell myself that he's looking down and smiling. Who knows maybe he is. He would more likely be sitting behind a tree somewhere looking for the perfect opportunity to jump out and scare me. That sounds more like him. 

Life has this crazy way of throwing curve balls at you. 

You think you have everything figured out and then BAM something comes out of no where. 

The thing is, you just have to brush it off and get back out there. 

A new friend of mine sent me a message after checking out my blog and told me how much she loved the line I said in my re-cap of Chips story. 

"It's okay to mourn the loss of your fairy tale"

We have these ideas of how life is supposed to be. How our marriages, our kids, our training, our health is supposed to be. More times than not it doesn't work out that way. You don't always get your fairy tale. 

It's more than okay to mourn the loss of that. When Chip was born he didn't pass away, he's healthy and happy thank goodness but for a long time I mourned the loss of that fairy tale. My dad and I didn't always have the picture perfect relationship and sometimes I feel like I'm mourning the loss of that fairy tale than I am mourning the loss of him. Life is weird like that. 

Life.is.weird. 

That's all there is to it. No rhyme or reason, just some weird shit that sometimes is beautiful and sometimes leaves you thinking WTF. 

Yeah this post is a little crazy and out there, and I need to finish my coffee before I try to complete anything else today. 

In the meantime I leave you with a little something to make you smile. 

Last night while we were playing outside I thought to myself. Why do I always try to race to get into a pose to capture it on my timer app when I have two (and a half) completely capable picture takers right here. 

Well the following pictures reminded me why that Timer App is the best invention yet. 

 

Swag Reveal!

I had an amazing weekend. A great Mother's Day with plenty of sunshine, outside time and family snuggles. My favorite things. It even started with a few hours in the woods! Perfect.

My husband remembered what I said about started a new tradition and followed through and started a new tradition of his own. 

On top of all this amazingness. I also received the best package from my Swag Swap partner. 

Erin from Homemade Happenings is seriously a doll. She's a mother and she's getting into running. She likes to lie to me and say she's not a runner, and I like to remind her that if you run you are a runner. 

End of Story. 

She gardens and is a self proclaimed hugger... The only thing I hate about her is that she's too far away from me to hug in person. 

The package she sent me was as if one of my family members or best friends sent me things I've been asking them for.

 I've already used the jump rope 5 times for cardio.. I LOVE IT! 

The spray is my new go-to and my husband approves which is an added bonus!

Even the tissue paper she used to wrap it screamed my name. My daughter opened it and said "This must be for you cause it looks so wild"

I def just ate them all but I love that she included this. Super thoughtful 

Make sure you check out my new boo, as well as all the other amazing ladies who took part in the Swag Swap.. some of them aren't bloggers so make sure you check them out on Instagram using the hashtag #Swagswap14 

I really enjoyed this and I hope everyone else did too!! Is there any interest in another one?!?!

An InLinkz Link-up

Camo & Lipstick Shirts!

The wait is finally over!! I feel like I have been working on these forever when in reality it's all been this amazing woman Tarin (side note- how cool is that name).

Starting today for the next two weeks (until May 23rd)  I will be accepting orders for the official Camo & Lipstick shirts.
When all the orders are placed and shipped out I will start another order. So don't worry if you miss this go around there will be others!

Solid color shirts are $25 a piece

They come in black, white, and heather grey

Camo shirts are $35 a piece

Please remember that all proceeds go directly to my fundraising efforts for CHaD for which I will be running their Hero Half Marathon in October.

This hospital was amazing in taking care of my son. You can read about his story here and here 
and what made me sign up for the race here
 


















To order all you have to do is send the money via paypal to candrabergeron@gmail.com make sure you include your

• Size
• Color
• Shipping information (where you want it to go!)

Here is a sizing chart to help you.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask!
If you do not feel comfortable using paypal let me know and we can arrange something.


Thanks everyone!!!

Me and My Friends

The lovely Ashley over at Weighing My Options nominated me for a Liebster award, and normally I don't do these things, but I figured hell... why not. I love talking about myself.

That's why we have blogs isn't it??

1. What celebrity would you love to spend the day with? (dead or alive) and Why?  Larry the Cable guy... duh. We could go hunting and then drink beer and eat ribs and he would still think I'm sexy. 
2. What is your guilty pleasure? Watching teeney bopper tv shows like Pretty Little Liars or any Real World reality show... I miss Road Rules. 
3. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Hopefully working in my field, with another baby (or two!) having a crazy sucessful garden and getting as much family time as I want. 
4. Who do you feel is the most influential person in your life? My husband. He is my rock and my support. I usually want to punch him in the face daily but I would get him an ice pack and a beer afterwards. 
5. What is your favorite hobby? Knitting and sewing but I don't have much time for it lately. So I would say blogging and running right now. Ew did I just call running a hobby...
6. If you could live anywhere, where would it be? Right where I am. With a second story though maybe.
7. What is your go to song to boost your mood? Any Jay Z song that I can rap a really fast part. Nothing boosts myself esteem like pretending I'm a rapper.
8. Would you rather watch TV or have music on? TV, sometimes music gets annoying to me. 
9. What’s your favorite animal? A zebra, and last year at the zoo I touched one. Like actually touched it. BOOM.
10. What do you do to unwind at night before bed? Read a book, or play mindless games on my phone like Candy Crush and Words with Friends... if you want to play against me my username is Candra B. and I promise you will win... I'm horrible
11. Wine , Beer, Liquor or No Alcohol? All of the above?? 

Eleven random facts about myself...hmmm.

1. I always use the same shampoo and conditioner brand. If I'm out of one I won't finish the other. 

2. I drink Iced coffee year round. 

3. I already have three more baby names picked out. 

4. My middle name is Booth

5. I NEVER remember how old I am. 

6. My favorite color is brown and most of the walls in our house are shades of brown.

7. I am heavily involved in our town. Town politics annoy me and most people are small minded, but if you want to make a change you have to start local. 

8. If the bed is made you better not lay in it. Seriously I will freak out at you. 

9. I don't eat meat on the bone... but I'm getting better!!

10. When I'm alone in the car I listen to NHPR... Click and Clack is my jam

11. When I was little I thought my aunt was the tooth fairy because she made crowns and bridges out of her house and she had fake teeth everywhere. 

Alright here is where I break the rules. I am not going to nominate anyone of give any questions because these things spread like herpes, but I will point you in the direction of some really great blogs that I have fallen in love with lately!! 

Tia from Hands on Pants off... she's a riot and her blog never fails to make me laugh!

Erin from Homemade Happenings... she writes about a little bit of everything including gardening... she's amazing. 

Brittney from Breaking Free She's sharing her story on her blog today and it's seriously an incredible one. I know what it's like to lose yourself when you have a sick kid, so her story hits close to home. 

Tracy from Yea, I know I'm Short She uses a lot of song lyrics for her titles so her posts always get me singing, how can you beat that?

Cassie from I Can Still Laugh and other Fun Facts.... she refers to her son as The Ginger and that makes us best friends. Besides she's incredibly sweet and super funny. 

Now go forth and check out each of these blogs today. Make sure you comment on them and tell them I sent ya! Don't worry you won't be disappointed!

I'm Trashy

Not really, but I'm sure at one point in my life I was.

That's not really what this post is about though. This past weekend Big Boy turned 2. Holy shit time flies. Chips birthday is on a special day... It's opening day of Turkey season. 

That's right Camo & Lipstick isn't just a catchy title it's my life. 

I love hunting. I love being in the woods. I love my shotgun. 

I think guys are sexier in camo and honestly I think girls are too. 

Real camo and NO pink!

This weekend I went out hunting with my brother in law. While I didn't get anything I saw a huge bird and I seriously had a great time. 

I think my brother in law reminds me of my dad, and being close to him makes me feel like I'm making up for all that missed time with my dad. 

I mean don't get me wrong my brother in law is a pain in the ass. He's the first person to tell me if my haircut isn't right for me, or remind me how big I was when I was pregnant, but he was also one of the first people to offer over 1,000 dollars to fly me out to see my dad before he passed away. 

Which is exactly what my dad would do. 

I'll be honest sometimes it's hard for me to not just run up to him and give him a hug, and then probably punch him in the arm. 

Anyway before I get all mushy and start crying lets get to the actual point of this post. 

Like I said I love being in the woods. That means I hate littering. 

Our road must be a burn cruise road or something, because we ALWAYS have an insane amount of trash on the sides. It drives me nutty. 

Thankfully our town does a roadside clean up every year around Earth day so we can get bags from the town hall and when we fill them up we leave them on the side of the road and the town comes to pick them up. 

We like to make a family walk out of it and include the kids. They are never too young to start teaching them the importance of appreciating the earth we live on. 

How do you teach your kids about appreciating the earth? Do any of your towns do projects like this? 

Staying on Track Through the Weekend

This has always been my biggest struggle. I will do so well the entire week and the weekend comes and I fall back on old habits. Snacking all day, eating junk food, or sometimes my weekend is so busy I don't eat all day and then I go crazy at dinner.

I have to remember that I can ruin a whole weeks worth of hard work in two little days.

There are some things I have found that make it easier through the weekends.

On weekends I use flavoring in my water.
All week long I chug my Gallon O Water plain. Mostly to make sure I'm hydrated for my long runs on Fridays, but also to make sure I'm getting my water in! On weekends I add a flavor. It helps me stay on top of my water but also feel like I'm cheating a little.

I stock up on healthy snacks.
Fruit is super easy to have around this time of year. To get me through weekends I  make sure to have more "snacking" fruits and veggies. Something I can carry around the house with me like grapes or baby carrots. I also like to have a few pre-made hard boiled eggs. My grocery store even sells a little package of them already de-shelled. These are great because they are filling and easy to just grab one if the snacking mood strikes.

I plan bigger breakfasts.
My family usually does a big breakfast on Sunday mornings. We used to waffles or french toast with sausage, bacon, hash browns, the works. I won't lie sometimes we still have all of the above, but I've found healthy alternatives to add in the mix so I feel like I'm in with the cool kids. I usually have gluten free pancakes with scrambled eggs and fruit.

I have quick lunch options pre-made
If we have leftover chicken from the week I will make a batch of chicken salad with avacados lime juice and black beans to have when I get hungry. If we are grilling on Friday night which we do a lot I will through an extra chicken breast on the grill to have for lunch Saturday. I try to think two steps ahead with meals throughout the week so I have something premade and pre portion in the fridge.

My husbands family is huge, and having two kids of our own as well usually guarantees that at, at least one point during the weekend we will be at someone else house for a party.
Seriously We have at minimum 4 birthdays in every single  month.

That's some form of birthday cake FOUR TIMES A MONTH. Not even including all of the other holidays.

This is not easy for me and I'll be honest 6 out of 10 times I eat that fucking cake. The only thing I have found that works for me is making a protein smoothie before we go and keeping it in an insulated mug so I can sip on it throughout the entire party. 

A lot of it is just finding something that works for you and for your family. I know plenty of moms that are go go go all weekend and keep snacks with them in an insulated bag. I also know plenty of woman that are fine on weekends because they have more temptations during the week at work.

Which one are you? What do you do help make it through the weekend?